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Macadamia Nut Cream Pie

Macadamia nuts are found in almost every type of dessert in the Aloha state. Food historians aren't sure which local pastry chef came up with the idea to add the nuts to a cream pie, but now the dish is a statewide staple. And it's just the thing to give your Thanksgiving dessert spread a new twist - the tropical nuts add a perfect crunch to the thick custard filling.

Shoofly Pie

According to local legend, colonists were baking these pies in the 1600s and shooing flies away while they cooled. Not possible, says William Woys Weaver, founder of The Keystone Center for the Study of Regional Foods. The dessert contains baking soda, which didn't exist until the 1800s. The once-popular breakfast dish is now eaten at any time, and it's a great nut-free alternative to pecan pie on Thanksgiving.

Sugar Cream Pie

In the 1800s, Quakers loved making this custard pie because it called for staples they had on hand: sugar, cream and butter. It's called Hoosier Pie because it's beloved in Indiana (the Hoosier State) — it was even declared the official state pie in 2009. When the legislature pushed the resolution through, it gave Wick's Pies credit for making the dessert famous: The company cranks out 350,000 sugar cream pies a year.

Poppy Seed Torte

If you live outside Sheboygan Falls, Wis., chances are you've never heard of poppy seed torte: The dessert is a hyper-local specialty likely brought to the area by immigrants, and now natives there are hooked on the vanilla-poppy seed custard pie. Bakery and restaurant owners who serve it say it's one of their most popular treats, but you don't have to go to Sheboygan Falls for a taste; try this recipe at home.